This invention relates to light pipes and, more particularly, to an improved mounting and alignment arrangement for a light pipe.
Light pipes are used in a wide variety of electronic assemblies to guide light from an indicator light source mounted to a circuit board within the assembly to a user visible external area. In the past, the light pipes have been part of the circuit board assembly which includes light pipes press fit into holes in the circuit board. When the circuit board is assembled into its final package, the visible ends of the light pipes must be aligned with, and inserted through, respective holes in a face plate. This alignment is not always straightforward and easy to accomplish, especially in cases where there are numerous light pipes in the same area.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical prior art installation of a light pipe 10 to a face plate 12 and a circuit board 14. An indicator light source 16, illustratively a light emitting diode, is mounted to the circuit board near the edge to which the face plate 12 is secured. The circuit board 14 is formed with a pair of openings 18 between each LED 16 and the face plate 12. The openings 18 are along a line extending from the LED 16 toward the face plate 12 and orthogonal to the face plate 12. The light pipe 14 includes a pair of downwardly depending legs 20 each adapted to be press fit into a respective one of the openings 18 to secure the light pipe 10 to the circuit board 14 so that the light receiving end of the light pipe 10 is closely adjacent the LED 16. The face plate 12 has an indicator area formed with an opening 22 adapted to receive therethrough the light emitting end of the light pipe 10, and therefore is aligned with the openings 18 and the LED 16. Before the face plate 12 can be secured to the circuit board 14, the light emitting end of the light pipe 10 must be inserted through the opening 22. If there are several such light pipes 10 arrayed along the edge of the circuit board 14, the alignments of all of the light pipes 10 with their respective openings 22 in the face plate 12 can prove to be complicated and difficult to attain.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved alignment and mounting arrangement for such a light pipe.